


Leave Yourself Behind

by AxisMage



Category: DCU, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Conner doesn´t really appear in this first part, Linebreaks, M/M, Mild Angst, Mpreg, Omega Verse, Tumblr Prompt, and then this lovely ask dropped by, but he will on the second, these first three episodes have so much potential
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-08 05:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17380472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AxisMage/pseuds/AxisMage
Summary: Conner proposes to M´gann weeks before Dick shows up and recruits Conner for the Markovian mission. It´s not like Dick and Conner´s bond ever broke, and after Markovia, it will never break





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this came out of an ask I got on my tumblr and ended up being a bit too long. I´m adding the first teeny little drabble at the beginning for this to make more sense XD
> 
> Also, this is the first Superwing thingie I do out of my omegaverse trip series :3 it makes me so happy

“So, you’re getting married.”

“Yeah.”

“I bet M'gann flipped when you asked.”

“She was very happy, yeah.”

Dick gave a soft smile. “Are you happy, big guy? About your engagement?”

“I am.”

Dick laid his hand over his and squeezed. “Then so am I. You deserve to be happy, and if she makes you happy…”

“She does.”

“Then, great.”

Conner nodded, looked down at their hands. “Do you think you and I would be engaged right now, if we’d tried it again after that first year that you left?”

“Maybe…” Dick mused. His smile faded. His shoulders dropped. “Guess we’ll never know, now… Not that it’s the biggest deal, right? We are… Over each other.”

“Obviously,” Conner agreed with a snort. “Of course we are… I’m happy with M'gann, and you and Barbara…”

“We broke up months ago. Too much of a siblings relationship. We’re family, not partners. We finally decided to admit it and move on.”

Conner was quiet for a few seconds, then turned his hand, palm up, and entwined his fingers with Dick’s.

Dick stopped breathing.

“It’s fine,” Conner assured him. “It’s fine. We’re fine. We’re over… We’re done.”

“But still friends,” Dick finished softly.

“Still friends,” Conner agreed.

After taking down Bedlam, they stayed in Markovia for weeks that then turned into months. Leads popped up, stakeouts and raids went down. They first kissed during a stakeout and over a box of donuts. It took them both by surprise, but it was easy to ignore after a day. They held hands during an undercover mission out of friendliness only. When more people came out to help, Dick pushed the team and Conner pushed Dick. After the first night they shared Dick’s bed again, they couldn’t, wouldn’t, stop. Each touch burned, soothed. Each kiss tasted like their last. Confessions were made in the dark.

“I still love you, Kon…”

“I don’t want to lose you again, Dick…”

The night before they returned home was spent in Conner’s quarters between sweet touches, bad movies and Dick’s enthusiastic explanations.

They said goodbye before climbing into the Super cycle.

Megan was there to greet them when they crossed the zeta-tube. Dick looked pained. Conner sighed.

“Hi, M'gann… Yeah, of course it’s good to be back. Can we… Talk?”

 

* * *

 

 

He realizes they might have messed up about a month after they come back home. He realizes their little affair in Markovia might have left something more than memories with him on that fourth week. He can´t pinpoint the reason, at least not at first. For the two weeks that follow that first seed of doubt that plants itself in his mind, Dick can move on and act like everything is normal because he feels… normal. He feels okay. For those two weeks that follow, he doesn’t know.

The third morning in a row that he wakes up and heads straight for the toilet, Dick knows what´s going on.

Artemis, his current and only backup on his new mission in Qurac, finds him sitting on the edge of the bathtub, holding his head between his hands, his eyes darting all across the floor as if he could find the answer to the question he´s just asked himself. _What is he going to do?_

“Dick?” Artemis says, and takes a step closer to him. “Are you okay? Still sick? Maybe we shouldn’t have more of the food from that little place down the—”

“I have to go,” he cuts her off. He´s on his feet and out the door before she has a chance to even turn around. He slides on his shoes and grabs his bags, doesn’t bother changing out of his sleeping clothes. He needs to see a doctor and he needs to see them now.

Artemis calls out his name as he pretty much runs out of the little apartment he´d managed to get for them. He stumbles into the car. Barbara´s voice comes through the car´s speakers when he´s halfway to the nearest hospital.

“What´s wrong? Artemis sound almost hysterical when she called.”

Dick can´t help but smirk. “Bet she didn´t.”

“Well, _hysterical_ might be a stretch, but she did sound worried. What´s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Right.”

“It has nothing to do with the mission. Don´t worry.”

Barbara is quiet for a couple of seconds, then clears her throat. “But there is something wrong.”

Dick´s hands tighten on the steering wheel. This time, he´s the one who stays quiet.

“None of your business,” he whispers, then pushes the buttons on the dashboard and turns her off. He puts his phone in silent mode as soon as he gets to the hospital. He braces himself before stepping through the door. He steels himself to hear the words he already knows.

 

* * *

 

Will places a cup of tea in front of him and sits on the chair across the table with a sigh. He picks up his own cup, then sighs again.

“What are you going to do?”

Dick´s vision is blurry from how long he´s been staring at the crack on the table that looks like a bolt of lightning. His fingers are still pulling at his hair. His heartbeat hasn’t really slowed down since the doctor handed him the positive results three days ago.

“Dick?” Will asks.

Dick wants to answer. Dick wants to raise his head, to lower his hands and take the cup. He wants to look at Will. He can´t move a single inch.

Will hums. He takes a sip from his coffee. “Have you told anyone else?”

“Only Artemis, and I didn’t tell her. She ended following me to the hospital to find out what was going on.”

“What´d she say?”

Dick lets out a small and sad laugh. “She cursed so much. Then she got sad. Then she got angry. Then she cursed again.”

Will lets out a snort, leans back on his chair. “Dick, I know you´re still in shock but you need to snap out of it and make a decision, or at least talk to someone. Me, since you´re here right now. You´re pregnant, you´re… what, a bit over a month pregnant?”

Dick swallows hard. He manages to raise his head this time, and he nods. Yes, according to the doctor he is about four weeks along.

Will nods. “You´re pregnant. With Conner´s child. And Conner is now engaged to M´gann. And they´re getting married this spring.”

“Did you really have to say all that out loud?”

“You need to hear it, _Richard_. You´re thinking it. You´re freaking out about it. You´re on the verge of a mental breakdown because of what I just said.”

Dick lets out a sound that can only qualify as a whimper. He feels his heartbeat speed up even more. He feels his eyes starting to sting. He feels the overwhelming need to wrap his arms around his own body, around his belly, and curl into a ball.

“I´m carrying Conner´s baby,” he says. “Will, I know we shouldn’t even have done anything in Markovia. I know we shouldn’t have even… talked about anything. He´s with M´gann. He proposed to her. I shouldn’t have gotten in the way.”

“But you did,” Will deadpans. “And I´m not talking only about you. I´m talking about Conner too. If you had an affair, which you obviously did, it´s because you both wanted it, it´s because you two were never over and splitting up because of distance was a stupid idea.”

Dick winces. He reaches for his cup and holds it between his hands, squeezes it as hard as he can to stop the slight shaking of his hands.

Will realizes he might have been a bit too rough with the last bit. He rubs his palms over his face. When he speaks again, his voice is gentler. “So I must ask again. What are you going to do?”

Dick shrinks in on himself. He holds his cup for a few more seconds before giving in and placing a hand over his belly. It´s still flat, his body is still the same. He wonders how much time until it starts to change.

“I´m not getting rid of this baby,” he says. His throat closes up, and he closes his eyes to take the worst out of the sting that´s now getting worse. “I won´t do that to my baby. His baby. We used to joke around and talk about having a family one day. We talked about getting married at least once. We can´t have that anymore, or a family, at least not together, but I can still… have this.”

Will takes a few more sips of his coffee. “So you´re keeping the baby.”

“Yes.”

“You´re sure.”

“Of course.”

Will purses his lips. He nods. “All right. Anything I can do to help?”

Dick wraps his other arm around his belly. He takes a deep breath in. “I don’t want to stay here. I told Bruce I´m taking some time off. I didn’t tell him why, but he said it was fine and to call whenever I needed, so I´m free on that end.”

“Are you going to tell him eventually? Artemis? Your brothers?”

“I will, but not now. Right now… all I want is to get away for a little while.” He wants to have some alone time to fully process all this. He wants time and space to adapt to all the changes that will come with his pregnancy. He wants time to think about what he´s going to, how he´s going to handle the news, how he´s going to tell other people, whether he´s actually going to tell Conner or not.

He knows the answer to that question without even thinking about it. He won´t keep it hidden. He won´t keep his baby away from Conner. He won´t deny Conner his child.

He needs time to plan on how he´s going to handle the situation. How he´s going to handle _M´gann_ and _Conner_ themselves.

Will gets up and from his chair, startles Dick out of his thoughts. Dick watches him pick up his phone, tap for a few seconds. Dick´s phone pings. He fishes it out of his pocket, finds new messages from Will.

“She´s pretty good at this disappearing and hiding thing. She´s been where you are,” Will says somberly. “And she´s not nearly as bad as she wants you to think. She´ll know how to help.”

Dick smiles, saves the number and opens up the chat. “Will she answer my messages?”

“Let me know if she doesn’t. She´s video-calling Lian today, I´ll get a few words in.”

“Thanks, Will.”

“Take care, Richard.”

 

* * *

 

Dick arrives in Egypt four days later. He´s getting into a cab and giving out an address an hour after his arrival. He reaches his destination another hour later.

Jade is waiting outside her little apartment when the cab drops him off. She´s got her arms crossed and gives him her usual cocky smirk as soon as they make eye contact.

“What am I now, a shelter for runaway omegas?” she snorts.

Dick grins, shrugs. “Being a former runaway omega yourself, I´d say so, yes.”

She rolls her eyes. “How long are you staying?”

The smile drains out of Dick´s face. His hand comes to rest on top of his abdomen again. “Until I have all this figured out,” he says, and that could mean a week, or the whole nine months that are about to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes Conner longer than it should have to decide he´s tired of trying. It takes longer than it should have to find Dick. At the same time, it takes only one glance at Dick for him to understand and come to terms with what he wants, who he loves, and what really matters to him.

There is no need to talk when he gets back. Despite how much he wants to, despite how guilty and bad he feels because of what happened with Dick in Markovia, he can´t talk. He can´t tell M´gann. He knows he can´t wipe that wide and bright and welcoming smile she has on with a very strong confession. He can´t reject the hug that comes as soon as he climbs out of the cycle. He can´t push her away when she hides her face against his neck and tells him how glad she is that he´s back. He can´t repeat the words, ‘We need to talk’. Or rather, he can, but he… he won´t.

He won´t _hurt her_ like that.

There´s a rustle somewhere behind him. He glances out of the corner of his eye. Dick´s figure comes into view, and Conner feels his chest tighten even more as he sees Dick climb out of the cycle, fingers tight around his bag. He seems fixated on a particular spot on the ground.

Conner doesn’t return M´gann´s hug. He does make eye contact when Dick finally raises his head, and his hands ball into fists. There is so much left to say, so much he wants to talk about and work out with Dick. He wishes he and Dick could share a mind link. He supposes a look will have to suffice.

_I´ll miss you, Conner._

_We chose this, Dick._

_We did. Be happy._

_I´ll miss you too. So much._

At least, that´s what he hopes their look means. He hopes he gets it right. It can be their last and most important one. He has to make it count.

It´s a good thing he tries, given Dick disappears off the face of Earth after that night.

Conner bears four and a half months of absence before he caves in and decides to _ask_. He starts wondering since the mission they have in Emerald City in which Artemis is the one who comes to recruit him. Only the two of them go out at first. Jeff joins after a few days. They come back without strays this time. Dick doesn´t show. Dick doesn´t call. They don´t contact Dick. Neither Artemis nor Jeff mention him. There is no information about his whereabouts or why he doesn’t go on the mission. Conner wants to ask more than once. Several times, Artemis waits for him to go on. In the end, he doesn’t voice any of his questions.

When he returns home and finds M´gann curled up on the couch, he knows he did the right thing by not asking. This is his life now. This is what he decided for himself. He can´t keep clinging on to a relationship that ended over a year earlier and because they both agreed on it. He can´t keep thinking about Dick. M´gann deserves better, and he has to _be_ better for her.

They kiss hello. It´s soft, and chaste, and she tastes sweet, but there´s no underlying natural scent to bask in. Her hands, when they grab his, are cool and soft. She smells of green apple shampoo, too sweet and artificial. It´s also shallow, because martians don´t have any proper scents. He tries not to think about Dick´s sweet and fresh smell that reminded Conner of a cold glass of sweet lemonade shared with a loved one under a setting sun. He fails, and pulls back from the kiss much sooner than he should

M´gann gives him a strange look. Conner closes his eyes. “Sorry,” he stammers. “Sorry, I´m just…”

A cool palm settles on the side of his neck. She kisses his cheek.

“It´s okay,” she assures him. Deep down, he knows it isn´t.

The Team goes back to New Genesis and brings a couple outsiders along a month later. Brion and Halo decide to go. He decides to go too. There is no trace of Dick or any other member of the Wayne family during those days they spend in New Genesis. Given both Artemis and Dick don´t work with the team anymore, he figures Dick´s absence in this case is more than justified. He stays quiet. He does his job. He goes home.

He lays awake almost the entire night and stares at the ceiling of their bedroom while M´gann sleeps peacefully next to him.

The next morning, she talks to him about when they can go to pick out the place and flowers for the wedding. She also suggests he starts finding a suit. Conner barely hears what he answers. It must have been an affirmative, given for the next two weeks M´gann tries to involve him in wedding details.

Then no more missions come, the Team stays working on Earth and he alternates between helping them and agreeing with whatever it is that M´gann wants for the wedding. He doesn’t get to see Artemis for anything other than cookouts with Will and Lian, Brion and Halo now joining them as well.

Dick is still missing.

He finds a bit of peace on the fact that no one is alarmed. He supposes that if even Artemis is calm, Dick is safe and just out of the radar, maybe working on his own and being very good at his job.

As soon as he thinks that, he becomes plagued by thoughts of Dick being in danger and captured and not communicating because he _isn’t_ able to. The mere thought of Dick trapped, alone and in danger is what drives him over the edge on that particular cookout with the fifth month of absence less than two weeks away.

“Where is he?” he asks as he approaches Will and helps him lay out the steaks on several plates.

“Hmm?” Will replies absently.

“Where is he?” Conner repeats. Will raises an eyebrow. “Don’t even pretend you don’t know who I´m talking about.”

Will smirks, fiddles with the meat and even whistles for a few minutes before he considers Conner´s hands are white enough from how hard he´s squeezing them. “Took you long enough to ask, you know.”

"After Markovia..."

“I am aware what happened in Markovia, Kent. Dick wasn´t exactly cheerful and happy after he came back.”

Conner grits his teeth. Will snorts. “Haven´t been able to think about Dick and get your own head out of your butt, eh?”

“We went our separate ways after that night. We were supposed to do that since last year. We´re not a couple anymore.”

“Then why are you even asking if you´re supposed to be living completely different lives? Friendly concern?” Will mocks, because he is mocking Conner, no doubt about it.

Conner feels the surge of familiar rage that he hasn’t felt in a long while. He tries not to act on it.

“I need to know if he´s okay. I´ve tried to live my life, Will. I´ve tried to move on. I´ve tried to forget him and to forget us. That doesn’t mean that I can´t be worried about him. As a friend,” he says.

“But are you honestly asking because of ‘friendly’ concern? You´ve been trying to forget. Have you succeeded?”

“Where. Is. He.”

Will rolls his eyes. He flips over the meat and ignores Conner for another three solid minutes. Conner is about to let go of his self-control when Will speaks again.

“He did say he wanted to tell you soon. I guess this is as good a time as any. He´s in Egypt. With Jade.”

Conner blinks. In Egypt? With Cheshire? Wasn’t she still with the shadows? Was Dick in danger? But if he were, would Will be so calm?  “Has he been on a mission there all this time?”

“Not exactly.”

His frown deepens. “Then what is he doing across the world with your ex-wife?”

“That´s an answer neither Jade nor I am supposed to give. If you want answers, if you care either as a friend or something more, you´ll have to find Dick and talk to him on your own.”

He leaves for Egypt the same night, Will´s little post it note deep in his pocket. Needless to say, M´gann isn’t happy, especially because they have an appointment for cake choosing the next day.

If he´s honest, even with himself, Conner doesn’t care about the cake. Now that he has information on Dick, everything else seems banal at best, inexistent at worst.

“I´m sorry,” he tells M´gann. There is no answer. Sphere is flying him across the sky before he has another chance to speak.

When he gets to Egypt on the late morning of the next day, the heat there is unbearable. It´s dry, suffocating, oppressing. He feels he can´t breathe. He feels his chest tighten. If he could sweat, he´s sure he would be sweating right then.

As he stares at the bright orange door in front of him he wonders if it´s the heat making him feel like that or if his own thoughts are plaguing him. He likes to believe it´s the first option.

The address is the one Will gave him. The little house looks exactly like Will had said it would. He´d seen Jade´s blue car parked on the driveway, right where Will had said it would be. There´s no doubt about it. He´s in the right place. All he has to do is knock.

He takes a deep breath in. He raises his fist. He knocks a couple of times and waits. He tries not to squeeze the handle of his small backpack too hard.

The door swings open to reveal a laughing Dick, a Dick calling something over his shoulder and holding a glass on his other hand. Conner has a moment to take in the easy and relaxed lines of his body, the very loose t-shirt he´s wearing and the baggy sweatpants he has on.

Dick´s smile disappears as soon as he faces front and sees Conner there. He pales, and the hand holding the glass tightens in a gesture that Conner is sure is automatic.

The reaction hurts, but then again, did he expect otherwise?

“Oh,” Dick says. He goes even paler. “Jade said… Will called… but they didn’t mention anything about… you.”

Conner´s tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth. His eyes stay glued to Dick´s shirt. The bulge under the shirt. The very evident, very round belly showing from under the shirt.

Conner has to grip the doorframe to keep from falling down the entrance stairs.

 

* * *

 

 

Jade makes a convenient trip to the nearest grocery store the moment Dick walks back into the living room with Conner in tow. The smile she gives Dick makes him narrow his eyes, but when she gets up from the couch and says she needs more wine for tonight, Dick doesn’t stop her from leaving.

He gets Conner a glass of lemonade, refills his own and goes back to the living room. He curls up on his corner of the couch, as much as his belly allows anyway, and watches Conner stare at his glass for what feels like hours.

Finally, Conner speaks. “I had no idea.”

Dick takes a sip of his drink. “No reason you should have,” he says, softly.

“How far… how come…?” Conner stumbles over his words. He turns a light shade of red when he realizes how the last bit sounded.

Dick gives a lopsided smile, not willing to waste the chance to make a jab about it. “Well, I suppose if the genomoprhs didn’t explain to you how babies are made, I can…”

Conner groans and shakes his head. Dick lets out a laugh, then lowers his eyes to his belly.

“Will told you, I´m guessing?” he says.

“He told me you were here, but he refused to tell me why. He said… it was something I had to listen in person.”

Dick nods. “I wasn’t sure how or when to tell you, but yeah, I didn’t want you to know from anyone else.”

Conner´s eyes flicks down to Dick´s body. He is no expert, not in any field or about any subject, but given how big Dick´s belly is, he guesses he is over five months pregnant. Six, seven months? Was Dick in the first stages of his pregnancy when they went to Markovia? He doesn’t think Dick would have gone if he´d known a child was already forming inside of him. Then again, maybe Dick hadn’t known.

… But if he´d been pregnant when they went to Markovia, is Dick´s child Conner´s? If he became pregnant _after_ Markovia was the baby Conner´s?

“If you have questions, now´s the time to ask them,” Dick says, almost as if he´s able to read his mind like M´gann can.

Conner frowns. He tries to figure out which is the best way to ask without coming off as either a complete jerk or a complete idiot. In the end, he probably ends up sounding like both at the same time. “Did we… make a baby?”

Much to his relief, Dick doesn´t laugh. He does smile, and he shakes his head. Conner takes that as a negative. A second later, he realizes Dick wasn’t shaking his head in answer.

“We made _babies_ ,” Dick says. “They´re twins, Conner. The doctor said they´re growing at a slightly quicker rate than normal human babies.”

Oh. _Oh._ “Because… of… me?”

“Probably.” Something must have shown on Conner´s face because Dick is leaning across the couch a moment later, patting his thigh. “It´s not a bad thing. They´re healthier than ever, growing steady and strong. They´ll be here in about two months instead of three, but don’t be alarmed. The three of us are okay.”

“How far along are you?”

“Six months, give or take a few days.”

Conner stares at the hand on his thigh. He thinks about doing it. He then thinks about not doing it. Deciding he will take a risk, he places his hand on top of Dick´s and squeezes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Dick turns his hand palm up. Conner catches the slight hesitance in his movements before he moves his hand so they can entwine their fingers in a comfortable way for them both.

“How´s the wedding coming along?” Dick asks, and there´s no malice in his voice.

Conner´s stomach drops. He´s hit again with M´gann´s face from last night, the apology he gave and she didn’t accept. How is the wedding going? It hadn’t been going perfect before. After last night, he doesn’t think the situation will get any better.

“It´s coming along,” is the most honest answer he can give.

Dick´s eyes widen in surprise. His mouth drops, and he looks off-put for a brief moment.

Conner frowns at him. “What?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing important.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Dick repeats. “Really, it´s nothing. I´m just surprised. I was expecting a very positive and solid answer. I was counting on it for my reasoning to have an impact.”

Conner´s frown deepens. “I don’t understand,” he says. Dick digs his teeth into his lower lip, then inches closer and squeezes the hand he´s holding. Conner waits, and he does have to wait a good while before Dick starts speaking.

“You have a life in Happy Harbor, Conner. You have a lovely fiancé, you have a job, you have Wolf, you´re trying to build a future for yourself out of the suit and out of the team. I am not part of that future.”

The words sting, and not for only one of them. They´re hard for Dick to say, they´re harder for Conner to listen to. It´s still the truth, or the truth they had both resigned themselves for.

“You think you and the babies would have screwed up my plans,” Conner says.

“Would you disagree?”

Conner isn’t sure how to answer that. Only a few weeks ago he would have agreed with Dick. Only a few weeks ago, he´d still been trying to focus on a future, a relationship and a life he hadn’t even been sure he wanted in the first place.

“Were you going to tell me? One day?” he tries to ask instead.

Dick wrinkles his nose. “Of course I was going to tell you. I came here to deal with the pregnancy on my own because I knew that if I stayed I´d get in your way again, and I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to be a constant reminder of… well, us. I also knew that I didn’t want to keep our babies away from you. I was going to tell you, M´gann and everyone.” Dick pauses. “But not before they were born, or before your wedding.”

“Because if you told me after the wedding, there´d be no going back,” Conner says.

Dick releases his hand and slumps back against the couch. “Pretty much.”

Imagining the situation makes Conner swallow hard. He absolutely hates the thought of not knowing about Dick´s pregnancy, the fact that Dick is pregnant with his baby – or rather, babies. The idea of Dick shutting him out to that extent terrifies him. He supposes he has no right to complain, though, what with taking so many months to come looking for him in the first place.

“I planned to tell you,” Dick insists. “And now that Will and Jade have outed me and you´re here and I already told you, I guess my plan moves forward from stage two to stage four.”

“What does stage four mean?”

“It means…” Dick frowns, takes a deep breath. “It means that I´m not going to push you away or hide any more. Taking our kids away from you was never the plan, so you´re welcome to come here every time you want and can. If you want to go to the appointments with me, you can. If you want to be there when they´re born, I would love to hold your hand during the C-section. Choosing their names, helping me with the nursery, if you want to be here with me, please stay. If you don’t want anything to do with the twins neither before they´re born or afterwards, that´s… that´s all right too. This wasn’t planned, and I perfectly understand if you don’t…”

Dick´s desperate ramblings are cut off by Conner´s lips pressing against his own, his hands rising to cup his cheek in an obvious display of reassurance. Dick freezes under his touch, lets out a small and surprised sound. Conner´s mind is screaming that maybe he should pull back, stop the kiss, but he can´t. This close, Conner can breathe in the scent he´s missed so much, can feel the warmth he´d thought he´d started imagining, and he wants to do nothing more but embrace Dick, protect him, reassure him.

Conner shudders, deepens the kiss and basks in the gentle heat and familiarity that Dick has meant to him for some seven or eight years by now. Since his Robin days Conner has found comfort and safety in Dick´s warm skin, his sweet and clean scent. _Dick_ _has a scent_. Dick is an omega. Conner used to be his alpha, and they used to fit so well together. Their scents used to mingle, and Conner used to love it. He is pretty sure he would still love it, were it to happen.

Dick places his hands on Conner´s shoulders and pushes back before their scents even have a chance to mingle. Conner allows Dick to push him away, and he sits down, stays quiet while Dick tries to get his breath back.

“I´m sorry,” Conner says into the silence.

“Don’t apologize,” Dick chides, breathless. “I´d never be mad because you kissed me.”

 "It was sudden, you didn´t see it coming. I´m sorry."

“It´s fine, Conner. I´m not mad, but we shouldn’t do that again. You are—”

“I´m here, Dick, and I´ll be here with you from this point forward. I´m not leaving you alone with the kids. I want to be part of their lives… Of your life.”

Dick closes his eyes. “Conner, you can´t say that. I mean, if you want to be here for the twins then great, But you have to remember what I said. I won´t be a hindrance in your life. I won´t stand between you and M´gann ever again.”

“I am not going to stay with M´gann.”

Dick keeps his eyes closed. He looks pained. “No, don´t say that. I won´t take the babies away from you. You´ll be able to see and spend as much time with them as you want. You´ll be their dad, but don’t change your plans for me.”

“With all due respect, Dick, whatever I decide to do, I´ll do it because I want to, not because you ask me to.”

Dick´s eyes fly open. Conner frowns at him, then continues talking. “I love you,” he says, voice firm. “I love you now, and I can say I haven´t stopped loving you, not the time you were gone, not since we broke up. My feelings haven´t changed, and I can´t keep pretending anymore. I don’t want to keep this act up, Dick. I don’t want the wedding. I don´t want a life in Happy Harbor. We used to share your apartment in Bludhaven. We used to be team. I miss that. I miss us.”

Dick´s eyes are still wide by the time Conner finishes talking. He has gone pale once more, and his mouth hangs open in evident surprise. Conner waits for him to gather his thoughts and muster an answer. He knows Dick will have one, it´s only a matter of waiting.

“I miss us too,” Dick eventually admits. “Conner, gosh, I´ve missed you all this time, and even before. Since we broke up, since you and M´gann got together again I´ve missed you so much. I love you too, and I´d love nothing more than to raise our kids together.”

“Then that´s what we´ll do, Dick. I´ll talk too M´gann. The wedding won´t happen. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place, and deep down I get the feeling she knows that.”

Dick lets out a rather long sigh. “You know we won´t get back together right away, right? I won´t allow it. Whatever you do, however you do it, if you break up with her doesn’t mean we´ll automatically start a relationship. It´s not fair on M´gann, or on either of us.”

It´s not what Conner wants to hear, but… he gets where Dick is coming from. When first hearing it, he doesn’t like it. However, he knows the more he has to think about it, he´ll understand more and more why Dick wants them to take things slow this time. Dick is right, it wouldn’t be fair for M´gann, or for Dick.

“I know,” Conner says. He leans forward again, places one hand on Dick´s belly and brushes their lips together. “I´m tired of not being fair on either of you.”

 

* * *

 

 

Conner doesn’t want to step out of Sphere when she lands in Happy Harbor, right in their backyard. Wolf gets up from one of his usual long naps and goes to greet him. Conner delays going inside the house by petting and talking to him. After what he feels is less than a minute, Sphere starts beeping, and she doesn’t stop until Conner is down on the ground and walking towards the house.

He finds M´gann and Lucas inside. She´d been laughing and talking when he entered, a clear echo of how he´d seen Dick in Egypt, and he feels something in his chest tighten.

“You´re back,” she says. They always get up to greet each other at the door. Today, she stays where she is. Conner is relieved.

“I am, but I won´t be staying long.”

There is no flicker of surprise on her face, only on Lucas´s. Conner ignores the other man and the gasp he lets out, keeps his gaze on M´gann. Her expression doesn’t change.

“How is Dick?” she asks.

“He´s good. He´s been staying with Will´s ex-wife all this time.”

“I see.” Her tone, much like her face, give nothing away.

Conner steps closer, then speaks to Lucas, “Sorry to interrupt your chat, but M´gann and I need to talk.”

Lucas blinks in confusion, turns to M´gann. She gives him a nod, and Lucas becomes a blabbering and even more confused mess as he heads for the exit.

Once the door closes behind him, M´gann groans. “Do I… do I even want to hear this, Conner? Especially because I already know what you´re here to say?”

“Do you?”

She shuts her eyes, but not before Conner can see the tears welling up in them. He waits for the overwhelming need to comfort her to rise up inside of him, like it did when Dick was rambling only a few days ago. All he feels is… slight guilt. It´s a feeling as shallow as the grief he felt when Batman and Martian Manhunter´s simulation exercise had gone wrong.

Conner doesn’t feel the overwhelming need to _not_ speak.

His stomach starts sinking as he starts speaking. “I don´t want to get married, M´gann. I´m sorry, but I don´t want us to get married, or to keep… trying. I don’t want to pretend I want this life when I don’t. I love you—”

“You don´t, Conner.”

He lets out a frustrated sound. “No, listen to me. I love you, M´gann, but I´m not in love with you. Not anymore, and this has nothing to do with our breakup. We´re over all that. We´re over dancing around each other, over you abusing your powers and me resenting you for it. This has nothing to do with us.”

“Does it have to do with Dick?” she interrupts, and this time he catches the strain in her voice, the light shaking of her hands.

Conner doesn’t lie. “Yes, and no. I´m breaking up with you again because this isn’t what I want, not because Dick and I are getting back together, at least not for now.”

She raises both eyebrows. “Not for now,” she echoes.

“No, not for now, but he and I will be having a close relationship from this point and onwards.”

“And why is that, if I may ask?”

Conner takes a deep breath. He lets it out, then inhales again. He´s already said so much, he can say this. He must say this. He is not going to lie or omit anything.

“Dick is about six months pregnant. He´s having twins… _we_ are having twins.”

M´gann´s form changes. Her skin tone changes, her hair disappears, so does her outfit, and Conner ends up staring at her chosen new form when she´s being Miss Martian. She´s white, whiter than her skin can be, if that is possible.

“What?” she whispers, as if all the air has been knocked out of her. “You… Dick… twins… what? When?” She gasps. “Markovia.”

Conner takes another deep breath. He balls his hands into fists. He nods.

M´gann hides her face against her hands. Conner takes a few steps forward.

“Get out, Conner. Please. Get out now, and don´t come back,” she says, and just as Conner starts to say something, he finds himself being flung through the air. He hears the door open, and he sails right past the door. Once he´s on the front yard, M´gann releases her telekinetic hold on him. The door bangs itself closed. Conner can hear the locks turning.

Wolf and Sphere are at his side in a flash. Wolf growls. Sphere beeps. Conner keeps his eyes on the door. After a few minutes have gone by, he gets to his feet and takes a moment to think, and face the facts, the question of, what is he going to do now?

Simple answer is: it´s time to start from scratch on so many aspects of his life.


	3. Epilogue

Strawberry cheesecake. Pistachio. Neapolitan. He isn’t quite sure which flavor Dick would like best. He has a sweet tooth, Conner knows that, but in this case, the information is quite useless. All ice cream is sweet, after all. All the flavors he can find in the store anyway.

Conner sighs, decides he needs to take out a tub before the security guard comes around again and decides it´s time to kick him out of the store. All three flavors sound good, he´s sure Dick would be fine with the one he chose.

He decides to take the three tubs instead. The more the merrier, or so he´s heard Dick say when it comes to snacks.

He heads to the register, picks up some bread, vegetables and other essentials before heading to the register. He gets his change back, grabs his bags and heads outside. He was able to get a bike a few days after deciding he was staying in Aswan as long as Dick stayed there, and he now drives it everywhere he needs to go, which usually means the doctor´s office, the convenience store and Jade and Dick´s house. He figured that moving in with them wasn’t the best idea, and now he´s glad he got a little place fifteen minutes away from their house.

He weaves through the lazy afternoon traffic. During the slow points, even for two-wheeled vehicles, he lifts the visor on his helmet and takes a moment to appreciate the setting sun. Now that he´s been here for two months, he´s starting to get used to the extremely high and dry temperatures. Dick has told him it´s one of the driest cities in the world and that summers are unbearable. Conner hopes Dick decides to move out of Aswan before summer hits. Given the twins´ due date is less than three weeks away, he thinks he has pretty high chances of not being in the city when it turns into an even bigger permanent oven.  

Dick is sitting on the steps of the house with Wolf when he arrives. Wolf hadn’t been too happy about the weather either when he´d arrived with Conner and Sphere. Now, though, he also looks like he´s getting used to it.

Conner parks the bike next to Jade´s car. He takes his helmet off and takes out the tubs of ice cream. Dick stops petting Wolf and holds out a hand.

“Neapolitan, pistachio, strawberry cheesecake,” Conner offers.

“Cheesecake sounds great.”

He hands Dick the corresponding tub and walks into the house. Jade calls out a vague hi from where she´s video-calling Lian and Will. Conner waves back at her, accommodates the groceries and walks back outside with a couple of spoons. Not to his surprise, Dick is struggling to stand up with Wolf´s help. With his very round stomach, his loose sweatshirt and his uncoordinated flailing around, Conner thinks he looks adorable.

“Where are you going?” he asks amused, grabs Dick´s hand so he can let go of Wolf. Dick straightens with a wince and a frown, then catches a glimpse of the spoons.

“I was going to get spoons, since you weren’t coming back out,” Dick says.

“I was putting your groceries away,” Conner says, hands Dick the spoons and helps him sit back down. Conner doesn’t think sitting on the wooden steps is the best idea with how close he is to his due date, but Dick says the fresh air and hard wood helps with his back pain.

Dick lets out a soft and frustrated sound. He groans as he sits back down, reaches for the tub the moment he Conner lets go of his hand.

“You know both Jade and I aren’t very good in the kitchen, right? You shouldn’t bother.”

“I don’t even want to know how either of you survived a pregnancy with your poor culinary skills.”

Dick smiles, opens the tub and dips in his spoon. “We have our secrets. Thanks for leaving the food ready for us, though. They help a lot. You should really consider taking some for your apartment. I can´t imagine it´s fun to cook for us both and then go home and cook for you.”

Conner shrugs, then sits down. He takes his spoon and scoops out some ice cream as well.

They eat in silence. Wolf settles at their feet. When they´re halfway into the tub, Dick clears his throat.

“M´gann called while you were gone,” he says.

“Oh yeah?” he says, puts a full spoon into his mouth. He hasn’t seen M´gann since the day she flew him out of the house. Before moving to Aswan, he´d gone to the house to try and talk to her again. She hadn’t opened the door. He´d called before he came here, and still continues to call at least once every week. She hasn’t answered. Conner understands why she´s shut him out, but for some reason, he isn’t exactly surprised she´s called Dick.

“Yes,” Dick mumbles. “She said she still doesn’t want to see you.”

“I know. I got the message since she didn’t open the door back at the house. Is everything okay with the team?”

“Looks like it. Brion and Violet have joined them. She says it´s all under control.”

Conner nods. He waits. Dick sighs. “She said she´s happy for us. She said she´s still very mad at you and she isn´t too happy with me either, but she also said that she´ll get over it, and that she´s glad for us. She said you´d be a great dad, and that I´ve always been… a mom.”

Conner lets out a chuckle. Dick can´t help but do the same.

“She´ll never forgive me,” Conner says after the laughter has left him.

“She´ll never forgive _us_ ,” Dick corrects. “And she has her reasons. None of this is just your fault. We both screwed up, Conner, and we hurt M´gann in the process. It wasn’t you. It was us. She doesn’t want to see us, and that´s okay. We have to respect her desire for distance. It´s the least we can do.”

“Especially after this. It mustn’t have been easy for her to call.”

“Indeed. It must have cost her a lot, and that´s why the call means a lot to me now. No matter what, she´s still sweet, huh?”

Conner nods.

Dick smiles, goes back to eating his ice cream. “One loose end less, in a way. Now we only have one loose end to deal with.”

Conner tilts his head backwards, follows a cloud with his eyes. “Us?” he guesses.

“Us,” Dick agrees. “Thanks for being here, these past few months.”

“Thank you for letting me be here with you.” And Conner means every word. Despite the distance they´ve kept, despite treating each other only as friends as of late, being there with Dick and being able to share the pregnancy experience with him has been amazing for Conner. The situation isn’t ideal, but it feels right. Conner feels comfortable, Conner feels like he and Dick are slowly starting to fit together again. Even their scents have started to mingle. Conner doesn’t know what else he could ask the universe for.

“Conner?”

Dick´s voice brings him back to reality, and he blinks at him. “Hmm?”

Dick rolls his eyes. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Ah. No.”

Dick groans, shoves Conner playfully. “I said, I was wrong. There are two loose ends we have to work through.”

“What´s the other one?”

“We haven´t named our babies yet.”

Oh, right. Conner threw a look over his shoulder. “Want me to get your notepad? We had already narrowed down the list last time, right? A little bit.”

“Please.”

Conner jumps to his feet and goes back inside the house. After he finds the notepad and a pen, he heads outside. Jade has joined Dick on the steps, is sticking her finger into the tub.

Conner sighs in disapproval. Jade scoffs at him.

“Name-picking time?” she asks. “Will you let me help this time?”

“Nope,” Dick says. “Jade, take the tub for yourself and scoot over there. Conner, sit here next to me. If Jade starts suggesting names again, you fly us out of here.”

Conner smiles. Jade feigns being hurt, then snatches the tub and Dick´s spoon. She stays right where she is. “Go ahead lovebirds,” she coos.

Dick rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t argue the term. Conner doesn’t either. They might not be lovebirds right now, but he knows they will be… again. Some day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I do epilogues now XD. Also, I still feel like everything I type out now is shitty, which is why, if you read this, thank you so much for giving it a chance :3

**Author's Note:**

> This will end well, I promise XD


End file.
